12-year-old attacked with bat in Hastings

The twelve-year-old was knocked to the ground with a bat on a footpath just off the Ridge as she walked home from school earlier this week. Police believe a group of four teenagers may have seen the attacker running past the Robert de Mortain pub.

Detective Inspector Rob Morland said: "We're still keen to speak to anyone who was in the area. One potential witness is a white man, in his fifties or sixties who was smart and in a light coloured striped suit and smart shoes who was walking along that same path shortly before the attack.

A group of four teenage boys who used the footpath to get to The Ridge may also have seen the man running past them at the Robert de Mortain pub. The victim is understandably very shaken by what happened. We need to find her attacker."